Jak
Jak (birth name Mar) is the main protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series, being the titular and playable character throughout the franchise with the exception of the spin-off game, Daxter. He is a human male with green-blond hair, cerulean blue eyes, and fair skin. Jak made his debut in The Precursor Legacy at fifteen years old, with his most recent known age at nineteen in Jak X: Combat Racing. He is the son of Damas, born to the House of Mar in Haven City, but raised by Samos Hagai in Sandover Village along with his sidekick Daxter until his mid teenage years. During the main series—from Jak II to Jak X: Combat Racing—Jak was voiced by Mike Erwin. However, during the sixth installment, The Lost Frontier, he was voiced by Josh Keaton. Jak did not speak during The Precursor Legacy, though vocal sounds were provided by an uncredited Aaron Lohr. Description Jak's appearance varies over the course of the series; however, his clothing maintains the basic pattern of blue tunic and off-white trousers. The metal plate on his left shoulder remains in-tact for every game. Except for Jak X: Combat Racing, he has a steel ring in the center of his chest held up by three leather straps (except for The Lost Frontier which is held by just two). He has a lean, muscular, yet athletic build, as well as yellow-green hair and cerulean blue eyes. He has long and pointy ears, common to most humans in Jak and Daxter's universe. He also wears goggles and a bandanna wrapped around his neck in every game. The most noticeable change in Jak's appearance from game-to-game is often his hair, which has ranges from spiky and long to short and rough, in addition to the appearance of his goatee seen in Jak II and onwards, and a possible mustache and beard which can be toggled in The Lost Frontier. Jak grows in both height and mass as the series progresses. It is unknown if Jak grows taller in The Lost Frontier, though, subjectively, he does gain noticeable body mass. History Pre-birth, and early life Jak was born to the Grand House of Mar in Haven City as the son of King Damas. His mother was never mentioned in any of the games, making him one of a few characters to have a father with no apparent mother. Some time after his birth, Jak's father was betrayed by Baron Praxis and Count Veger. The politics of the impeachment remain unknown, however it is known that it was amid the Metal Head Wars. Through betrayal and tyranny, Baron Praxis rose to power as the "temporary" ruler of Haven City and banished Damas to the Wasteland. Jak was pronounced an orphan and left on the city streets, losing the birth name Mar (for an unknown reason) and given the pen name "the kid". Veger, the council leader of Haven City, was in a desperate search for the Precursor catacombs in hopes of turning the Planetary Defence grid on to defend the planet from the foreseeable future. Veger hoped to harness Jak's purity to awaken ancient Precursor technology, and managed to kidnap him intermittently before losing him to a new rebel movement coined the Underground, whose sole purpose was to put young Jak back on the throne where he belonged and re-establish the House of Mar as the ruling dynasty of Haven City. Although Veger stated that he lost young Jak to the Underground, the Shadow (the Underground leader) noted that he found him just "wandering the streets," suggesting young Jak may have escaped by his own power. At some point during these events, an older version of Jak arrived from a different time zone. Soon after being consoled by the Underground, Kor, an elderly member of the Underground, was assigned as the attendant of young Jak and his pet crocadog. The Shadow originally planned for the young child heir to open the Tomb of Mar and pass the Trials of Manhood to gain the Precursor Stone in order to defeat the Metal Head leader, but the tomb refused to admit the kid on the grounds that he was too young to face the tests. Instead, older Jak forced his way through the door of the tomb in an attempt to retrieve the stone, which at the time was viewed as a desecration due to his impurity. After older Jak passed the trials, young Jak vanished: Kor kidnapped him so that he could open the Precursor Stone for himself. Before The Precursor Legacy Kor would later be revealed to be the Metal Head leader, disguising himself as an Underground member to sabotage Baron Praxis, who made a deal with him that somewhat neutralized the ongoing war activity. Older Jak sent young Jak into the past with the Shadow, in order to protect him from the danger of Kor. Young Jak would then be raised into his adolescence under the watchful eye of the Shadow (real name being Samos). Jak grew up in Sandover Village alongside fellow villager Daxter, who became a close acquaintance. He also grew up with Samos' daughter Keira Hagai, who became his main love interest. The events of The Precursor Legacy would take place around ten years after this. The Precursor Legacy The opening cutscene of The Precursor Legacy features Jak—along with his friend, Daxter (who was still in his human form)—straying about Misty Island; a place that was restricted by their watchover Samos. The two entered a large area where two dark figures were levitating in front of a large group of Lurkers, where they secretly observed them telling their apparent army to kill anyone straying from "the village". Jak and Daxter then continued searching the island, where they were confronted by a large bone armor lurker shortly after the secret observation. The lurker charged the two when Jak quickly threw an activated dark eco bomb, disposing of the lurker, but inadvertently knocking Daxter into a pool of dark eco. When Daxter came back out, he was in the form of an ottsel. Jak then returned to Sandover Village to ask Samos for help. The two then discovered that their only hope of changing Daxter back is finding Gol Acheron, the dark eco sage, who lived far to the north of the continent. Jak then began basic combat and athletic training at Geyser Rock, where he got his heroic start collecting power cells and traveling north. Jak and Daxter, along with Samos and Keira, later found out while at the Red Sage's hut that Gol Acheron and his sister Maia Acheron had been corrupted by the dark eco they were studying and were trying to activate a Precursor robot to assist them in opening a dark eco silo to flood the world with dark eco. Jak then entered their citadel, freed the captive sages and fought the two in their Precursor robot. Near the end of their battle, Jak discovered light eco, when four towers surrounding the silo opened up and the four colored ecos inside combined, which could change Daxter back (theoretically) or defeat Gol and Maia and save the world. He chose to save the world, and after the battle, Jak opened the ancient Precursor door at the top of the citadel, and discovered the Rift Gate and Rift Rider behind it, which would start the events of Jak II. During The Precursor Legacy, Jak was mute for an unknown reason. Note that young Jak, the kid, from Jak II did not speak either. Before Jak II Between the end of The Precursor Legacy and the start of Jak II, Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Samos moved the Rift Rider and Rift Gate back to Sandover Village from the location of the large Precursor door. The four are seen studying the artifact in the opening cutscene, where Keira discovered that the Rider somehow interacts with the Ring. Jak was left to find out how to activate it, where he pressed the ruby button encased in the Heart of Mar (indicating location), which activated the Time Map (indicating timezone displacement). This opened the Gate, which inadvertently released the metal heads from an unknown location and caused a swarm of metal heads to attack Sandover Village, starting the second Metal Head Wars. Jak then managed to activate the Rider and entered the Gate, where they were sent into the future in Haven City. Upon entering the city, Jak was arrested by a patrol of Krimzon Guards headed by their commander, Erol. Daxter escaped (starting the events of the spin-off game Daxter), while Keira somehow became a mechanic in the city, and Samos was arrested and imprisoned (as his equivalent for that timezone was currently the leader of the Underground but called the "Shadow", and was therefore taken into custody in confusion). Jak would be imprisoned for two years before being rescued by Daxter at the end of Daxter (game). Daxter Jak only appears four times during Daxter, once at the intro scene where he is captured, once in the cage of a prison transport zoomer while being moved through the Industrial Section, once when Daxter was flipping through the channels in the Krimzon Guard Fortress, and once in the ending sequence when Daxter finished telling the story of how he saved Jak. In the intro scene, he has his appearance from The Precursor Legacy but has green hair. In the prison transport, he is wearing his prison scrubs and his hair is shorter than it used to be. In the fortress, his hair has been grown to how it appears in the second game. In the ending scene, he has his Jak II appearance. Though Jak's appearances are brief, the plot leading up to Jak II concerning Jak's acquisition of dark powers is somewhat significant. During these two years, he was imprisoned and experimented on under the "Dark Warrior Program". He went through multiple experiments and injections, changing his previous personality seen in The Precursor Legacy from a quiet, head-strong boy with an apparent mutism disorder, to a bitter, revenge-stricken adolescent. By the events of Jak II, Jak broke away from his mutism. Jak II After being rescued by Daxter and escaping from Prison, Jak experienced the first display of his dark alter ego (evinced from past experiments) while defeating a squad of guards in the Slums. He was asked to do so by Kor—who was disguised as a human working for the Underground—in order to protect a "very important" child. After defeating the guards, Kor directed Jak to the Underground, a rebel movement waging war against Baron Praxis; Kor noting that its leader, the Shadow, could use fighters like him (Dark Jak). Kor told Jak to find the hideout in a dead-end valley near the city wall, instructing him to ask for Torn. Upon meeting Torn, Jak was at first rejected. After Jak told the leader that he wished to see the "Shadow", Torn gave him the mission "Retrieve banner from Dead Town", in which Jak succeeded; starting initiation missions for membership to the Underground. From then on, Jak worked with a variety of new characters including Krew, a local smuggler and gang-lord, who had apparent connections with the Underground, as well as Onin, a blind soothsayer who knew of Jak's arrival from the past, and was also able to foresee his future. Others included Brutter, Kor, Vin, and Sig. Jak later discovered that the strange new world which they were making their way through was actually in the future, and that Haven City was built around Sandover Village, which was now known as Dead Town. Later in the game, Jak met the Shadow, and discovered it was actually younger Samos. He found Keira and older Samos as well, and upon defeating Kor (who revealed himself to be the Metal Head leader), sent his younger self (the "very important" child) back into the past with the Shadow to grow up safely in Sandover Village, thus repeating the time loop. Jak 3 Shortly after the events of Jak II, war broke out on the streets of Haven City, as new Krimzon Death Bots took over a vital section of the industrial area of Haven, and a large group of stronger Metal Heads that survived the death of their leader concentrated in the gardens sector of the city (at that point renamed Metal Head City). Veger saw this as an opportunity to rid Haven City of Jak, and therefore found him guilty in association with Krew, who compromised Haven City's security which they thought let the metal heads into the city. Veger, on behalf of the Grand Council of Haven City, banished Jak to the Wasteland for life. Distraught, only accompanied by Pecker and Daxter, Jak began looking for salvation in the midst of the desert. He eventually fainted in exhaustion, and having the beacon given to him by Ashelin just before their departure, was found by a king of Spargus, named Damas. Jak, along with Daxter and Pecker, were taken into Damas' sanctum where they were bathed and Jak's clothing was reduced and his hair cut. Jak nearly died, as Damas noted he was preparing to have his monks pray for him. Jak fought in arena matches to prove himself worthy of keeping, where he eventually earned citizenship to Spargus, and became an official "wastelander". During this process he met Sig again, an ally from Jak II, in the Spargus Arena, where they were ordered to kill each other under arena rules, though they both withheld the task and were forced to prove their worth to Spargus another way. Later, Jak was invited back to Haven City by Ashelin. Though he initially refused, he returned to fight in the War for Haven City. Before entering Haven City however, Jak had an encounter with Count Veger, who activated a Precursor robot, although Jak managed to defeat it. Later, after reuniting with Torn, Cyber Errol was revealed to be the leader of the KG Death Bots as well as the surviving Metal Heads, however the greater threat was from the incoming Dark Maker Ship, which Errol sought to control in order to destroy the planet. In order to destroy the ship, Jak needed to activate the Planetary Defence System by accessing the catacombs near the ruins of the Mar Memorial Stadium. Damas answered Jak's call for help, but was crushed under their vehicle when a blast overturned it, inadvertently revealing that Damas was Jak's father in the final moments of his life. Jak continued through the Catacombs, activating the Planetary Defence System and traveled to the Dark Maker's ship to stop Cyber Errol, who escaped in a terraformer before the ship was destroyed. Returning to the Wasteland, Jak defeated Errol and his terraformer. The Precursors, revealed to be ottsels, asked him to come with them to protect the universe. He declined the offer due to the inseparable nature between Jak and Daxter similarly witnessed in the opening cutscene in the beginning of the game (when Daxter stayed behind with Jak in the Wasteland). It is also revealed that Jak's birth name was in fact Mar leaving many fans to speculate on whether Jak is the actual "Mar" who built Haven City, or if he is just of the same lineage and named after the famous figure. Jak X: Combat Racing About one year after the events of Jak 3, Haven City had been completely rebuilt and skinned to better suit the now massively popular sport known as combat racing. With the war finished, Jak, Daxter, Keira, Torn, and Ashelin traveled to Kras City to attend the reading of the will of the late crime lord, Krew. The drinks with which they used to toast to his honor were poisoned. Along with the rest of his friends and Rayn, Krew's daughter, Jak is forced to race in the Kras City Grand Championship in order to win the antidote. When he finally triumphed in the final race, the antidote was stolen by Mizo (who turned out to be the alter-ego of G.T. Blitz, the race "commentator"), forcing him to chase and defeat the crime lord to retrieve it. When Jak defeated Mizo they found out that Rayn had not been poisoned and that they were all part of a large scheme, and Rayn had betrayed the whole group, taking after her father, Krew. Ultimately Rayn escaped but Jak, Daxter, Keira, Torn, and Ashelin were healed. The Lost Frontier After an unknown amount of time following the events of Jak X: Combat Racing, the world grew unstable due to a sudden eco shortage. Jak, Daxter, and Keira flew out to the other side of the world near the Brink in search of a new source of eco. Along the way, the group met a band of Eco Pirates, a faction which hunted the frontier for helpless travelers to steal any supply of eco. During the first confrontation, the leader of the pirates known as Captain Phoenix got in a fight with Jak. Jak attempted to transform into Dark Jak, however the eco storms made the task excruciatingly painful and he only got midway through the transformation process. When Phoenix witnessed this he mistook him for one of his enemies, the Dark Warriors, and attempted to kill him, but Daxter scared him away with the gun turret placed on their aircraft, inadvertently forcing them to crash land on the Brink. Keira was able to repair their Hellcat airship, and they began to further their journey when they witnessed a large flagship known as the ACS Behemoth calling for help as they were being attacked by Eco Pirates. Jak helped the Aeropan craft, and was welcomed to the Grand City Aeropa to refuel. Upon reaching Aeropa, Jak explained to the city's leaders, Duke Skyheed and Chancellor Ruskin, that he is on a quest to find more eco. Once the former heard this, he revealed to Jak and his companions the Eco Seeker, a Precursor device said to point to any major source of eco; although the seeker was broken. Keira then asked if she can take the seeker to study it, and find out if she can make it work. Throughout the course of the game, Jak completes missions acquiring coordinate spheres which activate the Seeker. Eventually Jak discovered that the Aeropans were conducting a Dark Warrior Program on their citizens, making him angry and vengeful, where he then joined the previously antagonistic Eco Pirates in an effort against the Aeropans. In a siege on Aeropa, Jak finally met up with Skyheed, who also turned into a massive Dark Warrior. Jak battled him, forcing Skyheed to retreat to his shielded flagship, where he attempted to drain eco from the Eco Core. With Phoenix' sacrifice, Jak was finally able to kill Skyheed, using a new light eco weapon made by Keira. The storms were then calmed due to the realigning and activation of the Eco Core, and the world was no longer in want of eco. Personality Jak changes notably as a character over the course of the series. During The Precursor Legacy, he is presented as brave and curious, willing to step into dangerous situations given the need. The most notable feature of his personality in the beginning was his apparent mutism. In Jak II, he breaks away from his mutism, and after being subject to dark eco treatments for two years at the hands of Baron Praxis, his main basis becomes revenge, and he became angry and reckless—this is exacerbated by the presence of dark eco in his body. He also takes some enjoyment in killing metal heads and a fondness for guns. Nonetheless, Jak does retain some heroic personality traits. In Jak 3, where he gained light eco powers to balance the dark eco, he becomes less angry and mature; which was further aided by the death of his father later on. In Jak X: Combat Racing, he turned into somewhat of a relaxed character, though his final encounter with Mizo shows that the anger still exists under a calmer exterior. In The Lost Frontier, he seems to be more carefree and happy. Despite some scenes hinting his anger (for example, when he tries to turn to Dark Jak, seeing the Dark Warrior Program chair, among others) he seems to be more cheerful than the rest of the series. Abilities Jak's primary ability is being able to channel various kinds of eco, which is used to great effect in The Precursor Legacy, giving him various "power-ups" in order to complete certain facets of the game. Jak does not have the ability to produce eco, however—separating him from the status of Sage—and instead channels it, absorbing it into himself, and uses it until he runs out (usually indicated by a meter). In Jak II, he gained the ability to transform into Dark Jak due to the two years of dark eco experiments performed on him at the hands of Baron Praxis. In Jak 3, he was granted light eco powers by the Precursors, allowing him to transform into Light Jak; balancing the destructive influence of the dark eco already in his body. In The Lost Frontier, Jak gained multiple eco powers from special Precursor idols and can also purchase powers from Keira using dark eco, though he was unable to use his previously seen light and dark powers due to the eco shortage. Jak is also shown to have athletic and acrobatic capabilities with much physical prowess. He can perform melee attacks such as a gliding punch and round spin kick, as well as the ability to leap from a rolling position, dive head first to break sturdy objects, swing on poles endlessly, and jump high distances from a crouching vault. All of these he appears to be reminded of by Daxter in the beginning of the game. A core asset given to Jak from the beginning of his development were prodigious racing skills.12 Jak was very skilled in vehicular operation, using the A-Grav Zoomer in various missions during The Precursor Legacy, going on to similar but more advanced zoomers during Jak II, as well as entering the NYFE racing championships, and during Jak 3 was able to race with buggies in the desert. Jak especially displayed his racing skills in the combat racing spin-off game Jak X: Combat Racing. Jak also had many aerial combat pursuits during The Lost Frontier. Gallery Category:Sony Characters Category:Jak and Daxter Characters Category:PlayStation 2 Debut Category:All Characters